We Made A Moving Tectonic Map Of The Game Of Thrones Landscape

Scientists are among the millions of die-hard Game of Thrones fans digesting the show’s finale. Even in this fantasy world, geological processes like tectonic plate movement, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions would have built the mountains, carved the rivers and created vast oceans.

The striking landscape of Game of Thrones has led some researchers to build climate simulations that explain the erratic seasons depicted in the show, and others to piece together the geological history.

Game Of Thrones may well and truly be over, but the franchise is set to live on via multiple series set in the same universe. Here's everything we know about the spin-off shows so far, straight from the mouths of the book author and show creators.

Inspired by this work, we have built the first plate tectonic reconstruction of the Game of Thrones continents. Tectonic plates are moving slabs that make up the outer layer of our planet, and behave like conveyor belts in the way they carry and drag continents around on the surface.

Even in this fantasy Game of Thrones world, geological processes like tectonic plate movement, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions would have been responsible for building the mountains, carving the rivers and creating vast oceans.

Plate tectonic reconstructions of Westeros and Essos over 600 million years in GPlates (www.gplates.org). Note the brown regions, mountains, that appear when continents collide. And just like on Earth, the forested regions in Game of Thrones are no older than about 400 million years, when the first plants began colonising the continents.

Why solve tectonic ‘jigsaw puzzles’?

Firstly, because even scientists are allowed a bit of fun now and then. But we also hope this map will help people better understand the science of plate tectonics, which is key to us knowing our past, present and even future world.

The animation first shows our model for Westeros and Essos, but also how we use the same technology to build a detailed representation of Earth’s tectonic evolution. The same technology is also used by hobbyist “planet builders” who create evolving maps that might be used in computer games, movies and TV shows, or other creative pursuits.

Setting the scene

There is no doubt high-budget visual effects, a gripping storyline and power-plays between characters are key ingredients to the success of Game of Thrones. But so too are the captivating geological settings of the Seven Kingdoms.

The breathtaking cinematography across sweeping grasslands of the Dothraki steppe to the snow-capped volcanic peaks north of the Wall; each location depicting contrasting topography that has shaped vastly different societies.

The geology also informs the storyline. For example, the all-important Dragonglass (volcanic obsidian rock) and Valyrian steel is extracted from the volcanic cliffs around Dragonstone castle.

???? Perhaps the most enigmatic glass of them all is obsidian, a naturally-occurring volcanic glass—and the inspiration for #GameOfThrones' all-powerful dragonglass. https://t.co/uHwmPQB4iX

How we made our map

In our day-to-day work we use the shapes of continents and the geology they carry to reconstruct how real tectonic plate “puzzle pieces” moved around on Earth over time.

In this project, we worked with “evidence” collected by us and others from the Game of Thrones fictional world. This included evidence of past volcanism and mountain building, which are often the smoking gun for tectonic plate convergence and collision.

The geology and tectonics of Westeros and Essos at present-day. Red sawtooth lines represent ‘subduction zones’ where tectonic plates are converging, leading to mountain building and volcanism (like the Andes).
Author modified, digital GIS files from cadei at www.cartographersguild.com

The easiest part of the tectonic reconstruction takes place by working backwards from seafloor spreading, where continents have been ripped apart by the the churning interior of our planet.

In the case of the Games of Thrones world, we’ve assumed the continents of Westeros and Essos broke apart 25 million years ago to open the Narrow Sea. We mapped this occurring much like the unzipping of the African continent along the East African Rift Valley at a similar time.

In the real world, although India is now part of the Eurasian continent, an ancient seaway called the Tethys once separated them before the continents collided about 45 million years ago. The continental collision uplifted the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas, and in the process crushing and destroying geological evidence and obscuring accurate tectonic models of the region.

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Our plate tectonic reconstructions back to the Pangea supercontinent at 250 million years ago are fairly accurate by just undoing seafloor spreading, but the restoration of older supercontinents are much more difficult.

Knowing our planet

Tectonic plate “jigsaw puzzles” models are vital for explaining the evolution and liveability of our planet.

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